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This story is part of our CSC 360 package for January 2023, to view more stories,
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As CSC unveils our new logo, here's what a selection of leaders are saying
Throughout the rebranding process that started early in 2021, CSC leaned heavily on a wide variety of leaders, steered by the Executive Board of Directors. The Executive Board was unanimous in its recommendation to the membership on the name change, and then provided unanimous support for the selection of the new logo. To inform the process, more than 175 leaders from inside and outside of the organization were consulted at different points in the process including the strategic branding working group, committee chairs and vice chairs, past presidents, and divisional cabinets from NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, Canadian institutions, and Two-Year Colleges. |
Jessica Poole — 2022-23 CSC President
Chicago State University, Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Operating Officer
“The unveiling of our new logo and brand marks is the next step in our new brand identity for our association. Just as our new name, College Sports Communicators, embodies an important step to a renewed sense of purpose, inclusivity, growth and enthusiasm for our current and future members, so do our new logos for our organization overall and for our Academic All-America program.
“We were purposeful in choosing the design and colors to signify our growth and as a bridge from the past to the future. The Executive Board of Directors along with CSC staff, our strategic branding working group and with our consultants, Joe Bosack & Co., worked diligently and strategically to finalize our new marks to make sure they truly reflected who we are as an organization.
“All these important changes are indicative of an association on the move. In addition to our rebrand and new marks, our main focus remains on providing our members with expanded professional development, member benefits and leadership and networking opportunities as we continue to position CSC as a leader in collegiate athletics.”
Kevin Trainor — CSC Second Vice President / Strategic Branding Core Committee
University of Arkansas, Senior Associate AD for Public Relations and Former Student-Athlete Engagement
“Throughout our history, College Sports Communicators and CSC members have been the connective tissue of intercollegiate athletics. In a time of unprecedented transition, CSC is engaging colleagues throughout our profession to work collectively to meet these new challenges and achieve our mission of developing student-athletes through intercollegiate athletics.
"As an organization, we have taken major steps to solicit and be inclusive of input from all facets of communications within intercollegiate athletics at all levels. While the myriad of views will not lead to unanimous opinions on individual issues, our hope is that by facilitating a dialogue along the way we can be united in our direction for the future.
"I am hopeful that our membership will see our new name and brand as representative of the role they play in their own organization. We are respectful of our history, but recognize that as our roles have changed so has our responsibilities and our skill sets."
Mary Beth Challoner — CSC Third Vice President
University of Toronto, Director, Intercollegiate Athletics & High Performance Sport
"This new look was essential, following the CoSIDA rebranding process. It works in tandem with the new name and we felt a fresh look and feel was an important part of the new College Sports Communicators. There was a lot of thought and reflection that went into this final design — we looked to the future, while acknowledging our past. This CSC design is dynamic and speaks to the energy, the evolution and the expansion of our profession, moving beyond the boarders of a traditional SID."
John Paquette — CSC First Vice President
Big East Conference, Sr. Associate Commissioner, Sports Media Relations
"A new logo and branding are critical parts of a name change. We’ve had tremendous feedback from so many groups in our organization. The new logo is fresh and distinctive, but also acknowledges some of our history. We are moving forward together with great momentum."
Jeff Rubin — CSC Strategic Branding Working Group
SIDEARM Sports CEO
"I like the new logo, and I hope others do as well.
"This rebrand is less about a name and more about a vision. A vision that allows our members to be forward-thinking, innovative, and inclusive."
Nick Joos — 2008-09 CSC President / Past Presidents Cabinet / Strategic Branding Working Group
Iowa State University, Senior Associate AD/Communications
"Just as the CoSIDA brand served us so well for more than 50 years, I believe that our brand refresh and name change will serve future generations of communicators in intercollegiate athletics for the next 50 years! The rebrand allows us to continue serving our traditional members while opening the door and welcoming the ever-growing creative sector of intercollegiate athletics into our organization, too.
"While the traditional duties remain, professionals are being asked to do so much more today, and I believe that will continue in the future. By including creative communicators in our organization, we’ve given these professionals a place to grow, too, which I believe is important for their future within our enterprise.
"CSC has been a leader in intercollegiate athletics since its founding, and the changes that it has made over the last 15 years, from hiring an executive director to becoming a year-around organization that serves its members to the most-recent steps of rebranding, the new membership model and a streamlined governance structure are all fruits of the labor of so many individuals who have faithfully served our organization in leadership positions during this important time in our history. I’m excited to see what’s next for our organization as many of these decisions will lead to greater success for our membership in the years ahead.
"I enjoyed the process. I believe we had an outstanding group of professionals involved who were committed to making sure that we weren’t just changing for the sake of change. The group that Beau White assembled worked hard to make sure it got it right, and I believe we did. As with anything, change is hard, but the new name, coupled with a sharp logo has set CSC up for great success in the future."
Gina Lehe — CSC Strategic Branding Working Group
NCAA, Interim Senior Vice President of Communications
"Communications covers such a vast and diverse group of thinkers, creators, and strategists. CSC — now even by nomenclature — captures this unique environment within college athletics. The rebrand is a commitment to the evolution of the industry.
"Hopefully the rebrand will encourage and open conversation to the wide scope of contributions communication specialists are able to bring to the table. It is imperative communication specialists are invited into the rooms where strategy — digital, social, creative, traditional media, etc. — are being discussed."
Matt Panto — CSC Strategic Branding Working Group
The Ivy League, Associate Executive Director, Strategic Communications & External Affairs
"In my opinion, this rebrand energizes and empowers the membership with a forward-thinking mindset, brings new and meaningful opportunities to existing members and opens doors to new members that check all of the boxes for communicators in this era.
"Each layer of the recent initiatives from the CSC leadership has been proactive, intentional and thoughtful in an effort to evolve with our profession. All of the changes provide members more opportunities to grow individually while working collaboratively as an organization for the betterment of all its members.
"I think people should be proud of the incredible range of industry-leading voices that were involved in this rebrand. Each step in the process was time consuming in its own way but necessary to hear from and be guided by the membership. I was also continuously struck by the enthusiasm and detail of each conversation to find shared connections across the entire community.
"I hope the membership takes great pride in the rebrand and how it shapes the opinions and view of communicators moving forward. I also think this rebrand should bring continued trust that the CSC leadership has an instinctual and proactive pulse on what is needed for communicators to evolve and be valued voices in the changing world of college athletics."
Cindy Potter — 2021-22 CSC President
Columbia College (Mo.), Senior Deputy Director of Athletics & Senior Women’s Administrator
"This profession has evolved significantly year after year and our name needed to include that evolution. The logo, to go along with the new name, is strong, clean and recognizable, giving a clear indication of who we are and what we do.
Roy Allen — CSC Two-Year Colleges Cabinet Chair
Florida SouthWestern State College, Sports Information Director
"At the two-year level, we are forced to be the jacks of all trades due to necessity, so the name change and rebrand encompasses what we all do on a daily basis. The new logo is modern and was subtly created with some really neat principals of our organization in it."
Eric McDowell — 2014-15 CSC President / Past Presidents Cabinet
"To me, the rebrand accomplishes two important things. First, it provides a vision, to place us on the path for the current and future trends in the collegiate sports communications profession. The profession has evolved and this rebrand opens the door and welcomes the talented and creative professionals who produce videos, graphics and social media, the new and future communicators. Second, it is a nod and tribute to the past, with the words "College Sports" and thus the duties that our members provided from the beginning 65 years ago, with statistics, media services, story creation, etc. It is the best of both worlds.
"I could not be more proud of where the organization is today. We are more diverse than ever. We will have three female presidents in a four-year period and we have six different divisions through a variety of organizations. I am eternally grateful to have been blessed to work with all of these divisions and organizations and this rebrand is about all of them (NAIA, NCAA, NJCAA, U Sports) as well as about today's job duties and expectations. Anyone reading this needs to know that this is about you, and that you are not alone, we are all in this together. We all have that in common."
Rob Knox — 2018-19 CSC President / Strategic Branding Working Group
Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Senior Director, Strategic Communications
"I am glad that CSC is being more inclusive because everybody in the organization, regardless of title and job responsibility, is a storyteller and brand ambassador. This allows for stronger collaboration between video content creators, athletic communicators, creative designers, programs, and development to best position the athletic department and university for the best engagement possible from external stakeholders. This is a step in the right direction for CSC and I am excited about the collaborative approach this will foster.
"My goal is that the membership embraces the progression with an open-mind. I applaud CSC for being able to stay in the forefront of the communications industry and establishing our members as thought leaders in this space. Change is always challenging, but this is an exciting one in my opinion and it is my hope the membership embraces with this a positive attitude and an understanding that this process was done with careful thought and strategic direction.
"It was an honor to represent the organization and be part of such a historic opportunity to help position our organization as progressive. It was also amazing to work with so many communications leaders/professionals from across the country and in different industries."
Jason Feirman — CSC Strategic Branding Working Group
LSU, Executive Director, Creative Design
"The new name and logo is only the beginning. The college sports communications industry has evolved, opening up a plethora of new opportunities for people with different types of skills. These skill sets bring a tremendous amount of value to college athletics. Providing a location for creative members to network, learn, grow and build the industry is vital to the organization’s growth.
"The new name is a clear name for all. It represents the industry as a whole. We’ve told our (creative) group, 'This organization is now for you'.
"We (creative communicators) need additional help with professional development for students and young professionals. We are hoping CSC will be that place.
"Rebranding processes are difficult. Many voices can sway the process incorrectly at any time. What can be complicated and daunting should be expected because you want to try everything out, analyze it from every possible angle, but in the end it is so simple, so clever that you wish that you would have thought of it before. It simply works.
"Joe Bosack Co, the CSC staff, board and the branding working group did all those things to make this a successful process. It was definitely a challenge, but no steps were skipped. Really smart and great people worked on it and all wanted it to succeed."
Lynnea Phillips — CSC Strategic Branding Working Group
Indiana University, Assistant AD of NIL, Student-Athlete Branding, Social and Digital Media
"The name change to College Sports Communicators goes hand in hand with the attempt to widen the scope of the organization to include all communicators and creatives. CSC’s new All-In membership model for 2022-23 is another welcome initiative for those of us who don’t really have a home within the college sports professional development landscape.
"I truly buy-in to the idea that the name change is a major step in a larger strategic plan to highlight the association’s evolution and expansion. This move better positions the organization to support members who serve in the college sports communications, digital, and creative space.
"I hope you will join me in being engaged and excited to see the bright future ahead for College Sports Communicators!"
Mike Williams — CSC Advocacy Committee Vice Chair
Illinois State University, Assistant Athletics Director/Communications
"I think the re-brand establishes who we are as a collective group and where we see our organization going. The new logo and branding solidifies what is important to our members and what we represent, and I think this is an extremely positive step in the right direction.
"I want people to know that the traditional roles of sports information directors, as by proxy CoSIDA, have changed drastically in the past five years so it is imperative to evolve with the profession.
"It means that our profession is that much more inclusive. The lines of sports communication have become so blurred over the past several years that it only makes sense to have everyone with a hand in telling our student-athletes and coaches stories in the “room” together. We all work with groups outside of our communication offices on a daily basis to get projects done, so it only makes sense that those same people can now have a say in how those events are talked about."
Dale Long — CSC NAIA Divisional Cabinet
Georgia Gwinnett College, Director of Sports Information
"The rebrand brings the organization forward with the ever changing landscape of collegiate athletics. We are much more than statisticians. Today, we are story tellers and a valued member of athletic departments that through relationships can properly rely messaging and communication efforts to local, regional and national media but also to fans globally. Athletic communicators see projects completed from the planning, interviewing and then the final execution to help spread the college’s brand.
"CSC is making the necessary steps to include the diverse makeup of its membership. Social media is a growing demand of the job and content creators work closely with athletic communicators on projects to distribute messaging of a team, player/coach or institution to fans.
"As a small college member I understand the concern colleagues might have that the organization might be shifting in a way that does not apply to them in 2023 and moving forward with the rebrand and to include more members from the traditional sports information director. In 15 years as an athletic communicator the job has changed drastically and in 15 years the trends and expectations will be different from where it is in 2023. This profession has always had an element of problem-solving skills and adapting to the times so the national leadership along with the governing bodies felt it was time for the organization to evolve as well.
"The rebrand and All-In membership means we are not isolating ourselves as we are eager to work with content creators, graphic designers and other communicators for a common goal. We are also identifying ourselves as strategic communicators and trained professionals to other members and organizations on our campuses."
Dani Gariglio — CSC Young Professionals Committee Chair / CSC Academic All-America New Media Director / CSC 30 Under 30 Class of 2022
Davidson College, Associate Director of Athletic Communications
"College athletics, and our roles within it, has changed so much throughout the years, even just within the 10 years I’ve been a part of it, and I truly believe that CSC’s new rebrand reflects that. One part of what CSC does is fight for our seat at the table in athletics, and this new logo represents the freshness and creativity that college sports communicators across the country bring to their athletic departments day in and day out.
"One thing I hope people know about this rebrand is the thoughtfulness and intention that went into it. This new logo, and the meaning behind it, represents the adaptability of those who work in athletic communications, social media & all creative realms in college athletics. What I love most is how the S leaves room for growth, just like we’ve all grown in our own roles throughout the years. I believe it is a strong brand, that accurately depicts what we do and who we are as an organization.
"As with any change, openness and vulnerability are necessary. It’s okay to be sad about change, but be open and optimistic about what’s ahead, too. It feels like our industry is one that has been rocked by change over the years, and we’ve gotten through that and come out better on the other side. I believe the best is yet to come for CSC and all of us who are a part of it."
Donnie Smith — CSC Executive Board of Directors College Division Representative /
Southeastern University, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
"CSC understands that our profession has changed significantly and has made a significant change to mirror that. The logo does a really good job of giving our membership a visual brand to relate to.
"Having a membership that includes people whose responsibilities in athletics can only help our organization as a whole. Coming from a small college with various responsibilities, the chance to have people in our organization with high-level creative skills to learn from can only help."
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